You can make many, if not all, of your Christmas gifts with things you already have at home! For ideas, inspiration and to find out how it all started visit
www.YouCanMakeThis.Com!
YouCanMakeThis.Com’s “Thrifty Under 50” ChallengeA Handmade Holiday for Under $50!
When YouCanMakeThis.com creator Kim Christopherson decided to enlist 50 people to make as many presents as they could for under $50, she never would have imagined the response she’d get. Within two days of posting the challenge on her YouCanMakeThis.Com blog, she received more than 330 requests to be a part of
the Thrifty 50.
After sorting through all of the entries, Christopherson chose 50 participants for the
challenge. The goal of Thrifty Under 50 is not necessarily to have participants make all
of their gifts for under $50, but rather challenge them to come up with new ways
to make homemade gifts that will be appreciated, without spending much money.
“We're trying to get people to think a little differently this year than in years past,” says
Christopherson. “We want to encourage people to utilize what they already have on
hand. To be inventive and creative and dig into those fabric stashes and figure out ways
to repurpose old items, and use up what they already have.”
YouCanMakeThis.Com is the perfect company to issue a challenge like Thrifty Under 50.
The website specializes in downloadable eBooks for Do-It-Yourselfers. These eBooks are
written by fellow crafters who want to share their creative projects for things like children’s clothing, aprons, handbags or knit toys. Once a project has been completed, it can be recreated over and over again with fabric scraps or even with a few tweaks in the design to give each eBook multiple, unique, year-round uses. So the company encourages this kind of thinking throughout the year!
Thriftiness is especially important for many families who are feeling the financial pinch this holiday season. Instead of enjoying time with family and getting into the holiday spirit, they are concerned about how they’re going to pay the bills. With the Thrifty Under 50 Challenge, participants are not only saving money by being resourceful, they’re finding extra value in the gifts they’re making because each one is handmade for the recipient.
“I feel like every gift is special, and I feel so much more in-tune with the spirit of giving,”
said one of the Thrifty 50, Kristina. “My husband lost his job earlier in the year, and it was so critical for us to stay LOW budget. We barely had $50 to spend. With this contest influencing me I've been able to make almost a 100% homemade holiday, and not have to put one penny of it on a credit card.”
The Thrifty Under 50 Challenge doesn’t end with the participants. Each member of the
Thrifty 50 is blogging about their adventure and sharing tips on the YouCanMakeThis.Com
blog, posting on their own blog if they have one, and of course the members have been
Tweeting updates so everyone knows how easy and affordable it is to have a homemade
holiday.
ABOUT YOUCANMAKETHIS.COMYouCanMakeThis.com was created with the goal of serving the curious, "do-it-yourselfer" by providing high quality, easy-to-understand guides. They do this by partnering with designer-authors who share their expertise in a variety of eBooks and downloadable patterns. To eliminate the hassle (and waiting) of shipping, all of their guides are in convenient eBook format. These easy-to-use electronic files are available to download immediately after purchase. The YouCanMakeThis blog is loaded with topics from selling at craft fairs, plus size patterns, back-to-school tips to contests with great prizes. From one mom to another, you can make this!
